3AM
by Verthanthi
Summary: Takes place after What Was Missing. Marceline visits Bubblegum in the night. They need to talk, but Bubblegum isn't ready to talk about this yet. Angsty but tender. M/PB
1. Chapter 1

A/N: This is only two chapters. Prepare for some feels!

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Marceline found her bare feet in the air just outside Bonnibel's window, found her knuckles rapping on said window, all in the dark, early hours of the morning. She wasn't sure how or why she was here, but well… that's a lie. She had an inkling…

It took the princess a few moments to gather herself and stumble to the window to let her guest in. Marceline was pretty sure she heard angry mutterings about useless guardsmen, but chose to pretend she didn't. "Sup," she said casually, as though it was 3PM and not 3AM.

In the glow of the moonlight, Bonni's face looked too white, flavorless, Marceline noticed. It was a stark contrast to the black rock shirt she wore as her pajamas. "What, Marcy?" the drowsy girl snapped, rubbing her eyes with a thumb and forefinger.

"I-uh…" Marceline felt uncomfortable, suddenly, unusually. Her eyes met Bonnibel's, dropped to the nightshirt the princess wore, and then slid off to the side, a lump forming in her throat. She tried to swallow the lump away. "You really do wear it-"

"You _cannot_ be serious!" Bonni interjected incredulously. Marcy could see the dark, angry pink coloring her face now. "Did you honestly come here at this hour to verify whether or not I really wore your shirt!?" Bonni's color shaded more deliciously crimson with each second Marcy didn't answer.

The lump stuck hard and Marcy's mouth went dry, quickly blurting, "No-no, I just-I… I wanted to talk to you… I couldn't wait, okay?" before Bonni had the idea to shut the window. The vampire hugged herself, twisting the fabric of her plaid shirt in her grip, feeling the harsh prick of tears at the corners of her eyes, fighting them. Why was it so hard to talk to the girl who used to be her best friend?

Bonnibel only responded with a short sigh and looked the floating woman up and down briefly before hooking her fingers around Marcy's heel to tug her inside, the latter letting out a small "oop" of surprise. Once over the pane, Bonnibel let go and Marceline touched down on the floor with a gentle thump. The princess stepped a few feet away to sit on her bed, the coverlet crimping beneath her weight. The vampire stayed a few feet away, scuffing her foot against the floor to add some noise to the awkward silence rising between them. The room was dark, but lit well enough by the moonlight that she could see nothing had changed since the last time she was here for a visit. Marcy could feel Bonni's irritation; it weighed heavily on her words, making it harder to dig around for them, to find the right ones to say.

But, to her relief- maybe?- the princess spoke first. "I know… I know why you're here. I should explain." Bonni placed her elbow on her knee and buried her face into her palm. With another sigh, she said, "I apologize for abruptly limiting contact as I did. It was for the good of all, I assure you." Marceline grit her teeth hard, the lump in her throat melted, but before she could disagree, Bonni went on while meeting Marcy's gaze, "You were distracting me from my responsibilities, and it became too much for me to handle. Adventures and pranks, I could only keep up with you for so long, Marceline. I have a kingdom to run and-"

The vampire threw her hands in the air suddenly, interrupting, and then jabbed her finger at the all-too-composed Bonni, temper rising. "Kingdom or not- you could have told me! Instead you just- you just push me away, being cold… making me think that you hated me! Looking down on me… down your nose, like I'm… Like I'm just-"

"My problem, yes- I heard you earlier today." Marceline's chest tightened past discomfort to a point of pain as she counted Bubblegum's third sigh to herself, noted it as the most frustrated one, and let the princess continue, "_You_ aren't a problem, but… Marceline- I- I can't… _We can't_. We can't be… _friends_ anymore. I can't go back to that." If there were tears forming in Bonni's eyes, Marcy couldn't tell by the moonlight, but maybe she could hear it in her voice.

The vampire's temper died for only a moment at the sound of hurt, of regret, in the princess's words. Only a moment. Her red eyes sparked, fangs flashing from under lips curled back as she clenched her teeth to fight the hot press of tears. Bonni's words stewed within her. "Why!?" she demanded, taking hard, angry steps toward the young woman on the bed. "Responsibility can't be the only reason!" Towering intimidatingly over the seated princess, she grasped Bonni's shoulders hard, too hard, nails digging through the fabric of the black shirt into pale, pink skin. "That's not enough to end our friendship!" Rage pumped through her veins instead of blood; she gnashed her teeth, ready to roar. The lines of her mouth softened, though, as she met Bonnibel's gaze, one of understanding and apologies and, still, frustration. Marceline's grip loosened, the edge to her voice dulling, "I can behave, mostly… I think-… I can-"

Bonni carefully encircled each of Marcy's wrists and firmly tugged them off of her person, apparently unfazed by the vampire's harsh grip. Pressing her palms against Marcy's shoulders, she gave a solid shove, forcing a surprised Marcy to stumble back and float up a few inches to keep from toppling. Rising steadily to her feet, Bonni pressed down the wrinkles of her shirt with a few careful sweeps of her fingers. Without so much as a glance at her surprise guest, she turned and walked away, her fingers now trailing over the bedspread absently as she crossed the room to pause in front of the mirror. She gingerly touched the candy-shaped intricacies carved into the wood. Marcy was speechless for the princess' actions; Bonni was momentarily silent, then, "It's not that simple," she said at last.

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A/N: Thanks for reading!


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Thanks for continuing! A resolution.

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Princess Bubblegum looked into her own reflection for a few silent moments while tracing the wood carvings of the mirror's frame with delicate fingers. She was trying to gather courage, courage to say what had needed to be said for a long time. "It's not that simple," she said to herself, and to Marceline. Her fingers trailed across the glass of the mirror to touch fingertips with her reflection. She looked through the mirror at her shirt, her most treasured possession.

Somewhere behind her, maybe still in the spot she'd been thrust to, Marceline choked furiously on the words, "Tell me, Bonni."

Bubblegum felt her heart shatter, falling to little pieces on the floor around her feet. She clenched her fist and pressed it against the spot her fingertips had been, eyes closed in surrender. Tears overflowed through her eyelashes and made silent, glistening tracks down her cheeks. They fell to the floor to join the ruins of her heart. "I have feelings for you beyond friendship," she admitted firmly, quietly, and quickly, before she could take it back. Silence was the only response she heard. Not a rustle, not a shuffle. Abhorrent silence.

Blinking away the blur of tears, Bubblegum looked in the mirror for Marcy, but, of course, could not see the vampire's reflection. This was what she was afraid of; this was what she wanted to avoid: The heavy gouge of rejection, knowing the person you ached for wouldn't return your feelings. Better to just have just kept Marcy away, she maintained bitterly in her thoughts. Heated, suddenly, self-conscious and wounded, Bubblegum whirled around and then stopped short. Marceline's face was unexpectedly too close to her own, her bare feet were planted firmly on the floor, and she was looking directly into Bubblegum's eyes. The fire in Marcy's eyes had ebbed, but something was stirring in the crimson embers there nonetheless. The princess had forgotten that Marceline was about a head taller than her until this moment as she lifted her chin to properly glower at the girl. There was still only silence to be heard, except maybe Bubblegum's own heartbeat pounding in her ears.

With irritation exacerbated at Marcy's lack of response, Bubblegum brought her clenched fist down against Marceline's collarbone with just enough force to hurt. Marceline frowned but didn't draw away. "I can't take it," Bubblegum said angrily. She still had tears streaming down her face, but her voice carried no hitch. She hit Marceline again. And a third time. "I can't take it, I can't take it!" The fourth hit to Marceline's collarbone was not a fist, but instead, simply Bubblegum's forehead, and it was not nearly as forceful as the previous three had been. Bonnibel closed her eyes and took in a deep breath, humiliation overwhelming her, as her hands fell to grasp Marceline's plaid shirt at the waist, fingertips twisting themselves into the fabric.

Marceline's fingers touched Bubblegum's shoulder and lingered momentarily before then trailing their way delicately up to the princess' cheek. Her thumb smeared at the wet trail there. "Is that all?" Marcy asked quietly, finally responding to Bubblegum's confession.

With those words, Bonnibel felt as though her feelings had been trivialized. She cuffed Marcy's hand aside, and turned her chin away slightly, crossing her arms, to stare at the floor before starting, "Don't-"

Marceline brought her forehead down to meet smaller girl's, silencing her. Bubblegum blinked away the haze of tears to see clearly what Marcy was doing. The vampire was simply grinning with her eyes closed.

Confused but somewhat soothed, Bubblegum kept silent, closing her eyes as well, waiting for an explanation. In the moment, her heart soared at the closeness they shared. She reveled in it, not considering the implications of Marcy's actions. In the event that this should never happen again, Bubblegum took great pains to catalogue every second in her mind — the gentle caress of the vampire's hair where it touched her skin, the delicate, fruity scent of ripe, red apples and strawberries that always lingered on her person. The hand that the princess had smacked away found its way back to her shoulder and its counterpart trailed fingers slowly up the small of her back, where it splayed across her spine. A small effort on Marceline's part pulled them together, flush, shoulders touching shoulders, chest touching chest, hips touching hips.

Bubblegum sucked in a startled breath and felt her heart climb into her throat. Her mind was numb; she swallowed hard and felt the prickly sensation of hopefulness race through her ribs. There was a silence between them again, but this one was more comfortable with the anticipation of something Bubblegum had longed to know for such a long time. Nervous enough to quake ever so lightly with tremors, for her face to flush crimson, the princess allowed her hands to meet at Marceline's back and embrace the vampire in return.

Marceline brushed her nose against Bubblegum's temple, their cheeks grazed as the former leaned in to say with a tenderness Bubblegum never knew she possessed, "You can't take it… but I can." Lips pressed against the skin just before Bubblegum's ear before whispering, "I'll take it for you," and she felt Marcy smile against her cheek, sharp teeth poking as the vampire nuzzled in a bit closer.

The anxiety and dread of rejection was rinsed away by the satisfaction of the outcome that she had not forseen. Bubblegum's relief showed itself as a smile and she squeezed Marceline tighter. With her heart well saturated in delight, the princess fit her cheek just under vampire's jaw and grinned into her blue-grey skin. The sudden urge to tease Marcy brought a mischievous quirk to the corners of Bubblegum's eyes and smile. "Confident, are we not?" she asked, making sure to hide the grin from her voice. She gave her best effort to sound like a gracious noblewoman as she pushed away from Marceline to make eye contact, "I may be willing to relinquish control of it to you, if you are _so_ sure of yourself…"

She watched Marceline's gaze as it danced back and forth between her eyes and lips. Instantly, Bubblegum flushed, teasing confidence dissipated. Eagerness crept into her lungs as Marceline, with the same self-assured smile, unfaltering despite the tease, said, "Heh- Very…" her eyes locked onto Bubblegum's mouth now, "Sure." Carefully, Marceline leaned in. Bubblegum met her half way.

The first kiss was uneven, and sloppy, but perfect. Despite Marceline's confident words, her cool fingers trembled as they gently cupped Bubblegum's face. The princess felt her heart fit itself back together piece by piece, nearly whole, each shattered fragment carefully notched back into place… for the most part…

There were issues to be discussed, issues like Marcy's tendencies to distract Bubblegum, the pranks, and her uncanny ability to say exactly the wrong thing to any visiting diplomat, but for now, Bubblegum wanted only to focus on Marceline. If this were to work between them, those things would have to come later, and she would chide herself, certainly, for procrastinating even just a little, but in this moment, she forgave herself the momentary lapse from responsible princess to giddy woman in love and pressed herself against Marcy's cool skin.

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A/N: Thanks for reading!


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